Seam for sewed articles.



' R. R. HUGHES, JR. SEAM FOR SEWED ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED 05c. 14. I915.

1,205,744.. Patented Nov. 21, 1916.

ITE STATES ATENT UFFICE.

ROBERT E. HUGHES, JR.,..OF UTICA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO UNION SPECIAL MACHINE COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

SEAM FOR SEWED ARTICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 21, 1916.

Application filed December 14, 1915. Serial No. 66,837.

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that LROBERT R. H GHES, Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing at Utica, in the county of Oneida, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements, in Seams for Sewed Articles, of which the following is a de-' scription, reference being had to the accompanying drawing and to the figures of reference marked thereon.

The invention relates to a new and useful improvement in seams for sewed articles, which seam may be used for ornamental purposes or for the purpose of joining the edges of fabric sections whetheroverlapped or abutted.

An object of the invention is to provide a seam having a plurality of needle threads joined by cross threads on the under face of the fabric, wherein certain of the needle threads on the .upper face of the fabric'between adjacent loops are extended laterally and disposed in overlapped relation and concatenated with other needle threads whereby a relatively wide fiat seam is produced in which the connecting threads on the upper face of the fabric are'formed from needle threads.

In its broadest aspect, the invention con sists in the concatenation and arrangement of threads with respect to a fabric generally, under which is included the use'ofthe seam applied for ornamental purposes only on the flat face of a fabric or at the edge of a fabric where said seam may also serve 'as an artificial 'selvage.

In a more restricted but very important aspect, the invention includes the same concatenation and arrangement of threads when applied to fabric sections whose edges are slightly overlapped or abutted without overlapping in which event certain of the loops are anchored in the respective fabric sections and the raw edges of the fabric sections are covered by the connecting threads of the seam.

In the drawings: Figure l is a plan view showing, more or less diagrammatically and on an enlarged scale, my improved seam joining abutted edges of fabric sections; Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the same turned transversely of the seam; Fig. 3 is a sectional view through the fabric sections showing diagrammatically the location of rows of needle loops; and Fig. 5 is a view,

similar to Fig. 3, showing a single fabric section and the threads forming an ornamental seam.

In Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive, of the drawings, I have shown my improved seam as utilized for joining the abutted edges of fabric sections. The fabric sections are indicated at a and b, with their edges abutted at c. As shown in the drawings, the seam is composed of four needle threads and two looper threads.

The needle thread 1 is formed into a series of loops 5. These loops are passed through the section a to the under face thereof. The needle thread 3 is formed into a series of loops 6 which are passed through the fabric section I) at the opposite side of the meeting edges from the loops in the needle thread 1. A looper thread 7 is formed into a series of loops 8. The loop 8 is projected first through the loop 5 in the needle thread -1, and then through the loop Gin the needle thread 3, and the end of this loop 8 is secured by the next needle loop 6 to be passed through the fabric sections. The direction of feed is indicated by the arrow in Figs. 1 and 2. One of the strands 9 of the loop 8 is carried longitudinally of the same and encircles the 'next loop 5 to be passed through the fabric sections. This concatenating of the looper thread with the loops in the needle threads is of the wellknown character and forms no part of the present invention except as it is used in combination in the entire seam structure.

The needle thread 2 is formed into loops 12 which are passed through the fabric section a between the abutted edges and the needle loops 1 while the needle thread 4 is formed into loops 13. These loops are passed through the fabric section b, as indicated in the drawings. A second looper thread 14 is formed into loops l5, and these loops are first passed through a needle loop 12 and then through a needle loop 13. This looper thread loop is concatenated with the needle loops in the same manner as the needle loop 7 by the next pair of needle loops 12 and 13. On the upper face of the fabric sections, the needle thread 1 between adjacent needle loops is extended laterally and caused to pass around the needle loop formed in the needle thread 3. In other words, the loop formed in the needle thread 3 passes down through this extended loop formed in the needle thread 1. The needle thread at between adjacent needle loops is extended laterally in an opposite direction from the needle thread 1 and passes around the needle loop in the needle thread 2. It will thus be seen that the needle threads 1 and 4 between adjacent pairs of needle loops are extended laterally in opposite directions respectively across the meeting edges of the fabric sections and are secured by the inside rows of needle loops as they enter the fabric sections. These extended needle threads, therefore, cross the meeting edges of the fabric and cover the raw edges of the fabric. The needle threads of the inner needles extend lengthwise of the meeting edges and tie down the loose ends of the fabric.

From the above description of the arrangement of threads as applied to abutted fabric sections, it will be apparent that I have provided a seam wherein the holding threads enter the fabric sections at a dis tance back from the meeting edges forming an effective anchorage for said threads, while the tying down threads pass through the fabric sections at points adjacent the abutted edges, and thus form effective covering threads. The overlapped extended needle threads also form covering threads.

' On the other face of the fabric the looper threads are projected transversely of the meeting edges, thus tying the edges to gether, and are also extended longitudinally of the edges, thus effectively covering the same.

The needle loops in the needle threads 1 and 3 are disposed in a line passing between lines containing pairs of needle loops in the needle threads 2 and 4. This positions the extended portions of the needle threads 1 and 4: so that the strands of one extended portion cross the respective strands of the other extended portion substantially at the meeting portions of the fabric sections, as

clearly shown in Fig. 1. The extended portions of the needle threads a cross the needle threads 3 and hold down the needle threads while the needle threads 2 cross the sections of the extended portions in the needle threads 1, and this overlying and crossing of the threads aids in the covering of the fabric edges.

In Fig. 4 of the drawings, I have shown the fabric sections a and b as having overlapped portions (Z. These overlapped portions extend one beyond the other .so that the needle thread loops 2 and 3 pass through both the sections a. and b. By this overlapping of the edges of the fabric, I am able to make a very much more durable flat seam.

In Fig. 5 of the drawings, I have shown a single fabric section,indicated at e, and the needle threads are passed through this section and concatenated in the manner above described in connection with Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawings.

IVhether my improved seam is used for ornamental purposes or for uniting fabric sections, it will be apparent that I have constructed a relatively wide seam consisting of a plurality of needle loops arranged in parallel rows and the cross threads on the upper face of the fabric which interconnect the rows of loops are formed from the needle threads themselves. In making a seam having four rows of needle thread loops, I am able, therefore, to connect the rows of loops on the upper face of the fabric without using an extra cross thread. 7

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to secure by Letters-Patent is V r 1. In a seam, the combination with a fabric, of a plurality of spaced rows of needle loops projecting through the fabric, and means for securing the needle loops beneath the fabric, the needle threads between adj acent loops in the outer rows respectively extending laterally and disposed in overlapping relation and concatenating with the needle thread loops of an intermediate row of stitches.

2. In a seam, the combination with a fabric, of four spaced rows of needle loops projecting through the fabric, and means for securing the needle loops beneath the fabric, the'needle threads between adjacentloops in the outer rows extending laterally in opposite directions and disposed in overlapping relation and concatenating respectively with the inner row of needle loops farthest therefrom.

3. In a seam, the combination of abutted fabric sections, stitches for joining and coving the edges of said fabric sections, said stitches comprising four rows of needle loops projecting through the fabric sections, and means for securing the needle loops beneath the fabric sections, the needle threads between adjacent loops of the outer rows extending laterally in opposite directions and disposed in overlapping relation and confabric sections in opposite directions and the needle thread in the next adjacent roW 10 disposed in overlapping relation and conof needle loops.

catenating respectively With the inner row In testimony whereof, I affix my signaof needle loops farthest therefrom, the eX- ture, in the presence of two Witnesses.

tending portions of one of the said outer ROBERT R HUGHES, JR

needle threads passing underneath the needle thread in the next adjacent row of Witnesses:

needle loops and the extending portions of JOSEPH BERGER, the other outer needle thread passing over MAY HUGHES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

